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It was a Tuesday morning in Ms. Oliver's fifth grade classroom. As her students walked in she said, "Good morning fifth graders, please take your seats quickly because we have  a special suprise."

John, Lilly, and Sophia were so excited for the suprise and whispered back and forth to one another about what they thought it was going to be! "I  bet its going to be a class pet", exclaimed John. "No", said Sophia, "I think Ms. Oliver is suprising us with extra recess!" "I guess we will just have to wait and find out", said Lilly.

Ms. Thomas walkedinto the classroom and said, "I would like to introduce you to your new classmate, Amaya! Please make her feel welcome and show her around throughout your day! We are so happy to have you join our class!"

John, Lilly and Sophia were so excited to have a new friend. Since the weather was warm and sunny, Ms. Oliver allowed the students to eat outside. John, Lilly, Sophia and Amaya made there way outside and got out all of their lunch. 

As they were eating, Lilly said, "So, how do you pronounce your name?" Nervously, Amaya tried her best to sound it out for them. " Can we call you something easier like Maya? responded Sophia. Amaya, wanting to fit in on her first day, nodded her head yes. 

The children continued to ask Amaya questions. John said, "Maya, why is your hair so curly, can I touch it?" Sophia added, "You look so exotic, where are you really from?" Amaya was extremely hurt  by the questions her classmates were asking. She shrugged, but tried not to let the comments bother her because she wanted John, Lilly and Sophia to like her.

Lunch time was over and the students made their way back into the classroom. Ms. Oliver noticed that Amaya looked sad, so she pulled  her into another classroom.  

"Amaya, I just wanted to check in with you!  How is your day going?" 

"To be honest Ms. Oliver, it is not going very well." Amaya filled Ms. Oliver in on how the questions that the other students had asked her during lunch really hurt her feelings.  

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Ms. Oliver walked back into the classroom with Amaya. She asked all of her students to make their way to the reading corner for their next lesson.

           Your Words Matter

"Today we will be

talking about the           power of our words. Sometimes our words can hurt people's feelings even if we don't mean to.